24 hours in the life of Brennan Firth
Although Mendoza celebrates with fiestas and siestas during harvest, winemakers are at their busiest time of the year. So here are 24 hours in the life of winemaker Brennan Firth. April 25th 12am It’s midnight. The winery is much cooler, but I’m still sweating like a pig. I am running around like a bit of a wild man, monitoring tanks, tasting juice, taking temperatures and breaking down the caps. I have seven full tanks at the moment and the caps (grapes risen to the top) need breaking every five to seven hours. At this early point in fermentation the must is more like a thick soup – I lift the plunger high over my head and force it down into...